I have artichokes growing - and have tried cooking them - a lot of work for very little quantity - or taste I thought - so just think of them now as interesting ornamentals. The flowers look great in a vase - fresh or dried!How did yours turn out Cara?

Well, after watching several youtube videos on how to prepare an artichoke (my recipe said sliced) I clumsily made my way through the preparation stage getting rid of the thistley bit in the middle and slicing the inner leaves and heart up. The dish was like a risotto but with risoni instead of rice. Initially I thought the flavour was going to be too sour but it mellowed in the cooking and I added some red capsicum and carrot to add sweetness to balance it out a bit. Also in there was white wine, rosemary, tomatoes, stock, onion, garlic and oregano... not bad!

That's the secret then - cooking them with lots of other stuff - I've only tried steaming them and then dipping each "petal" into melted butter and lemon - and then disgustingly sort of scraping the flesh off each with my teeth.Not great!